The Frozen Sun
by Canvas nut
Summary: In a world where order is no more than a myth, a king with a heart of ice rules with the fire of fear until a frozen bloom is caged. After being spared and brought up in the bitter hands of the Ice King, Anders falls for the call of the world outside the mountain and ventures out. Yet, the past resurrects with a vengeance unless a bloom of winter pays a price. Genderbend of Frozen
1. Part One: Dusk's Dawn

Part One: Dusk's Dawn

_Isen som brenner større enn brann er hemmeligheten av hjertet fylt med kraft_.

An arctic chill flew along the wind with a stow away in tow; a stow away that pierced the chill with thick, metallic lore that simply spoke the world's history; a history always being continued with one simple waft:

_Blood_.

Kai sniffed the air sharply, her nose wrinkling at the scent that flooded her nostrils. A shiver wracked down her spine, even beneath the thick wrappings of fur she mummified herself in, and gulped heavily. _Already? _She thought, the metallic scent growing stronger around her. _Do I even dare look back? _

Sucking in a breath, she forced her eyes to cast over her shoulder and felt her stomach clench. Crawling across the night sky trapped under monstrous, black clouds, rose a frail wisp of gray smoke with a shadow of flames in its wake. Beneath it all laid flickering arms of crimson and orange that ravaged the bottom of the mountain with quick and precise fingers, crushing everything in its wake. Suddenly, the flames froze as a trail of blue slithered down their forms, casting dark shadows across the countryside while the snow whipped around the area. With an earsplitting swoosh flurries of snow and wind rose to the heavens, swallowing the inferno whole with a dull crumble. Silence blanketed the world for a mere millisecond before the wind howled once more, brushing flakes of snow across Kai's red cheeks as she let out a sigh.

From where she stood, the whole ordeal was like a canvas that had started weeping and didn't know how to stop, dragging its colorful glory into the ground as it was frozen over by the mountain side. Kai turned away; her tongue twisted into a knot as she marched through the mounds of snow.

After all, why was she to expect otherwise?

Kai gripped the knapsack around her tighter as the wind whipped harsher than before. With each stomp she made her boots were engulfed by piles of snow, anchoring her feet to the ground. She groaned, brows furrowing as she zoned in on the village in front of her. Shattered fractals of snow whipped its arctic fury through abandoned graves of huts and stone paths, leaving icy streaks of white to slither through cracks and break open new ones. Rooftops caved in on mud and brick as snow buried the huts' carcasses, driving them deeper into the shadows of the North Mountain; deeper until it wasn't even worthy of being a memory.

"Blasted winter!" Kai huffed bitterly, tugging her fur hat down onto her ears. "Blast it all!" Her footsteps littered the ground before they were devoured by the storm again. Her teeth grinded together while the cold sunk into her thick bones. "_It's a wonder why I still serve it._"

Kai picked her way through splintered bits of wood and brick as she moved through the village until she reached the end. Trees, parched from soil, yet monstrous in size, loomed over Kai, their branches winding blindly to the ground and up. Kai rolled her eyes shifting her hand into her knapsack and whipped out a short machete that a sickly gray in the snow light. With a quick flick of her wrist, the gate of thorns crumbled to the ground; the quick whacks of her blade and stomps flooding the forest. A low groan rumbled in the back of her throat as twigs clung to her hair and cheeks, leaving thin trails of red littering her pale skin. She stepped over another pile of broken branches and let out a sigh; the frozen beads of sweat along her brow seeming to sigh as well as they inched down her skin.

Through the sea of clouds devouring the sky, a ribbon of iridescent light glittered along the snow as it trailed up and lost itself along showers of ice whirling around the top of the mountain. Kai sucked in a breath, gagging on the hint of blood that still lingered in the air, and glared up at the wall of ice. She raised the blade up to her chest, capturing flints of the lurking moon within its silver grasp. Bowing her head, she hummed quietly.

"_Isen som brenner større enn brann er hemmeligheten av hjertet fylt med kraft_."

As the words rolled off her tongue like rich wine and fluttered into the air, the wind waned into a low moan around her. The ice splintering along the mountain froze, letting out a puff of white as it shifted its pale arms from the snow. Suddenly, Kai's eyes were staring straight into pale ivory ones as the snow rose from the ground. Its white fluff molded into slim curves of an hour glass until it resembled a woman. The creature blinked at Kai, an invisible smile roaming somewhere beneath the pack of white of her chin, and gently nodded her head at Kai. The howling wind gave way to swirl in a frozen time piece as the ice covering the cavern in front of her broke apart. With a rumble, a staircase of pale blue ice rose from the tunnel and spiraled up into the mountain.

Kai sighed, her muscles twitching under her furs as they ached to move to the stairs. She stepped forward and flinched. Her nose arched towards the sky, sniffing harshly until she flicked her blade out to her side. The snow creature tilted its head at her as Kai whispered, "We're not alone."

Kai whipped back towards the forest behind her, her blade slicing the air. An earthy aroma wafted its way into her nostrils. Kai's eyes bore into the maze of trees, scanning the dark titans with a hushed snarl. Her ears twitched at the sound of a snapping twig. She turned towards the trees at her side. Her heart thudded against her chest as the snapping came closer. Another snap and her heart raced quicker. And closer. Another snap and a bead of sweat clung to her hair.

_And closer. _

Then it stopped.

Kai arched a brow, steadying her hand as she cautiously crept towards the trees. Silence buzzed through her veins as the unnatural quiet roared on. The tip of her blade grazed the trunk of the tree and she let out the breath she was holding.

_Just your nerves gettin' to you Kai_, she thought to herself. She turned on her heel and began to walk back towards the stairs.

However, she didn't get far enough to avoid the stabbing pain in her shoulders.

Kai choked on a scream, sending her elbow flying back to knock against the body behind her. She staggered forward with a hushed cry and whipped around. Her silver eyes were lit with fury as she stared in pale yellow slits. The moon dribbled out drops of light to shimmer along the beast's dull coat of gray. The beast let his black lips curl back into a sneer, grimy dribble glistened along his fangs that nearly bulged out of its gums. It let out a low growl and circled around Kai agonizingly slow. Kai fought back the piercing pain that pierced her shoulder blades and gripped her blade tighter. Their eyes locked and the beast clawed at the ground as it lunged at her. Kai narrowed her eyes and jumped to the side, swinging her blade across the beast's cheek.

The beast wailed, crimson as dark as the night oozing from the slash across its face. It roared loudly and raced toward Kai once more. Kai raised her blade for another blow, only for the beast to jerk off to the side and swing his paw across her thigh. Kai gritted her teeth, letting out a roar of her own as she charged at the beast. Drops of crimson splattered across the ground, blooming across the crystalline ground like flowers as grunts and cries erupted into the night. The snow creature pressed back against the entrance, tilting its head curiously at Kai as she and the beast rolled across the snow. Deep scratches littered over both their bodies while the cold slithered into their wounds, nearly cackling against their bones as they fought off bitter shivers of pain that pulsed through them.

Kai raised her blade above the beast's head as the yellow slits watched her. Taking its jaws, the beast clamped its mouth over her wrist, its claws digging into the knapsack along her waist. Tears pricked the back of Kai's eyes, a cry wrenching itself from her throat at last as the teeth dug deeper into her wrist. Her breath hitched, blood dotting her face as she tugged her hand out of the beast's mouth. With a sharp gulp, Kai raised her leg and slammed her boot into the beast's stomach, sending it flying back with a whimper as she rolled onto her side. She panted, cradling her wrist as she reached out for her blade. She glanced down at her knapsack, the thick lining of fur torn as the snow buried the brown meat that had lied inside it into the ground. Kai's eyes widened.

"No." she groaned, crawling over towards the meat. Her fingers hovered over the thick slabs as they were coated by winter. The wind froze the fresh trail of tears pouring down her face with each gasp as she cried. "_No!_"

Three weeks. Three weeks of hunting _wasted_ in a matter of seconds! Her hands trembled, her fingers digging into the ground. _That was going to last us a month! A whole god damned month! _At the sound of a quiet whine her head tilted up; her quaking and meat long forgotten. As the beast rolled onto its sides, paws trying to cradle is bleeding stomach, a lone bundle of brown lied along the snow, letting out quiet cries as it shuffled aimlessly in a circle. Kai's gashed lips pulled back into a sickly grimace, forcing herself up onto her feet with a groan. She glanced over at the large beast and swallowed thickly; _rule five of the Mountain: Never lose your nerve. _

She flexed her grip on the bloody handle of her blade and thundered over towards the tiny bundle, blind in its own folds of fur as it wallowed about in the snow. Her heart slammed against her chest crazily as she raised the blade over her head. She eyed the brown fur of the younger beast and clenched her eyes shut.

_Rule one of the Mountain: Don't fight with what you're not willing to lose. _

She plunged her sword downward as a high pitched cry pierced the air, silencing the roar of her heart. The blade sank deeper into the body beneath it, blood staining the snow with a dark pool of red. Kai let out a shuddering sob and forced her eyes open. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull as she gawked at body beneath her. The larger beast flopped to the ground as crimson poured out of its back and onto the ground. Kai's knees buckled, but she kept herself up right; her mouth going dry.

"W-what?" she gasped quietly. The yellow slits of the beast had been glazed over by a gray film, its pink, forked tongue frozen in its attempt to brush at the bundle one last time. Its paws curled around the tiny bundle, curling it away from the blade stuck within its back, and suddenly, a deafening wail shattered the silence. Kai snapped out of her daze and gazed back down at the bundle. The wails, though muffled by the fur, sounded vaguely like—

_Crying? Beasts don't…cry?_

Kai gulped, her hand jerking her blade out of the beast's back. The steaming blood dripping off the tip of the blade looked eerily like rust in the darkness, yet Kai carefully moved it towards the bundle. The wails caused the bundle to rock back and forth as Kai gently placed the edge of the blade at its side. Kai sucked in a breath and quickly nudged the bundle onto its side. Kai's blood ran cold as the blade fell to the ground.

And she wished to the heavens that abandoned her long ago that the beast had ripped her throat out.

Bundled tightly in the folds of the beast's spare fur, a child wailed into the night with streaks of tears nearly drowning it. Its hands tried to curl into fists only to pan out and settle for waving again. The moon soon let out its last drops of light onto the mountain and graced over the child. Its pale, tiny chest heaved up and down with each cry that tore out its throat while the light was tangled in the mesh of hair that might as well of been the moon itself. A deep, dark part of Kai was relit as the motherly instincts she hadn't used in ages urged her to grasp the child and dry its tears. Yet, Kai remained still, frozen from the harsh, bitter years spent in the mountain and the utter, unadulterated trepidation that pierced her to the core.

Children don't survive up here. They couldn't. They wouldn't.

_They weren't supposed too. _


	2. Dusk's Dawn cont 2

Kai stood rooted to the earth as she ogled at the undersized beast—oh, how she wished it really were one—rocking back and forth within its folds. Its bare, pink gums sucked at the freezing air only to choke on it and cry even harder. Kai's stomach twitched at the sight, a part of her worrying that the child's eyes would forever stay clenched in from squeezing them closed so hard. Her arms itched, ready to pounce onto the bundle and cradle it to her chest; to wrap it in _real _clothes as she fed it some mashed leftovers of hers and rock it to sleep by the fire. To rock it to sleep from the world.

To rock herself to sleep from everything.

Her blood raced to her head as the newborn fantasies danced through. Kai's muscles began to quiver, aching from the sudden surge of warmth. Lost in her reverie, an earsplitting crack shattered the silence. The monstrous clouds, burning with cold, rumbled chaotically across the sky, devouring one another as its white streaks of lightning slashed through the night. As the light flashed over the mountain top, Kai's eyes flittered to the blade in her hands and her tongue grew heavy. _Kindness doesn't exist anymore. _She shook her head, strands of pale copper fluttering over her red streaked cheeks as she straightened her back. Her eyes grew cold as she sheathed the blade into the wraps of her cover. Flicking her hair over her shoulder, Kai kneeled down and wrapped her large arms around the beast. With a short cluck of her tongue, the beast was flung over her shoulder.

Kai hissed at the weight of the beast, her knees trembling as the wind nipped at her wounds. She narrowed her eyes and turned on her heel towards the staircase, her ears growing deaf of the crying child behind her. As her boots stomped through the snow, she gave the snow creature a curt nod; making it snap out of its daze as it eyed the tiny child wallowing about. The snow creature closed its eyes and sank back into the snow, her form becoming that of the mountain once more. Kai rolled her eyes, grumbling under her breath about getting more active Gate Keepers. The metal of her boots scratched at the first step of the tunnel until her muscles tensed.

There was no more crying.

Kai gulped heavily as she casted her gaze over her shoulder. The brown furred bundle laid still, a series of gasps and choking coughs growing lost in the whipping wind. The child's chest heaved erratically, breathing in the wisps of snowflakes only to feel the arctic chill pierce its lungs. Kai's brows furrowed deeply and glanced at the beast over her shoulder.

_It's as good as dead now. _Her lips pressed together in a firm line, the taste of brackish air stinging her tongue. Kai moved away from the staircase, her muscles aching in protest, and towered over the child. Its face was drowning in tears as short lived pants replaced its cries. Kai tilted her head to the side. _It'd be downright cruel to leave it to suffer. _Shuffling the beast from one shoulder to the next, she carefully kneeled down next to the child and flexed her palm. Kai fought back the flinch crawling up her spine as she noticed how giant she truly was. Thick fingers covered in dark fur slowly curled around the child's neck.

With a light squeeze, the child whimpered, a dark violet bleeding over his face. Kai's heartbeat rang in her ears as she carefully tightened her grip, watching the tears continue to roll down the child's face. A quiet whimper escaped from the child's throat, its eyes slowly opening. Kai's jaw clenched, her eyes staring into large orbs. Glassy tears swirled atop the child's eyes that glowed with a deep aqua that seem to light the darkness around them. Kai's heart skipped a beat, her fingers trembling. It was as if the child dragged her down with it, drowning her in its gaze to find something else staring back at her.

_The…sky. _Kai's heart quivered at the thought. _When was the last time I saw the sky? _

Kai's teeth buried itself into her bottom lip as she swatted the thought away. Her jaw clenched tightly, forcing life back into her fingers once more. The child gasped harshly at the tightened strength of Kai's hand around its neck; another, deeper, darkness swallowing the mirage of colors around it.

Kai forced her eyes to stay open as the ember in the child's eyes grew dimmer. She let out a sigh.

_It's…for the best. _

And then the darkness roared on through the night.

⃰

Kai groaned as she trudged up the stairs, her boots sliding along the smooth plains of ice. With each heavy stomp upward, blood dribbled through thick linings of fur; gently dripping crimson kisses upon pale blue. Kai's hand glided along the thick walls around her as she leant her side against it. She glanced over her shoulder at the giant beast upon her back to find gray emptiness stare back at her.

_Stupid oversized flea bag_, she lunged towards another step, the beast's paws brushing against her sides limply. _Oh well. Better than coming back empty handed. _

A sigh of relief escaped her as she gazed up at the door at the top of the stairwell. Ivory strands of ice bore into the blue door in curly wisps, glimmering against the soft light that flooded the tunnel. Kai's hand pressed against the handle in its center, the iciness nipping her fingertips even beneath thick gloves, and gave it a light shove forward. The door creaked open and Kai eagerly pushed through to find herself in the middle of a hall encrusted with oaken wood. Finely shined wood raced along floors with the occasional painting that adorned the walls of the servant hall. Columns of deep mahogany reached the high ceiling that arched up towards the main hall above them. Kai ran her hand over the intricate carvings within the wooden columns and slowly trudged into the hall. As her mind wandered off towards the idea of a fire lit bath, her muscles shivered in anticipation until a creak slithered into her ears. She quickly turned to watch the door glide along its hinges and slam heavily behind her. She winced.

_Oh no! _

"Kai, is that you?"

Kai cursed under her breath at the voice jingling from the end of the hall. Footsteps tapped along the floorboards along with sharp clicking ones as a man poked his head around the corner. His glittering grin melted instantly, his eyes growing wide as he eyed the woman with a beast anchoring on her back.

"Kai!" He exclaimed, racing towards her. Kai grimaced, eyeing the tiny ice creature following his heels. The man reached out his hands to grasp Kai's shoulders, yet froze in mid step, retreating behind her to carefully shoo her down the hall. "What on earth happened?"

Kai rolled her eyes and shrugged, wincing slightly at the pain piercing her shoulder blades. "Nothing." She growled. She pulled away from the man to turn to her room when he gently dragged her down the hall.

"Nonsense." He snapped. "That," he motioned towards the blood caked along her face like a scar. "Is not _nothing_."

Before Kai could protest further, she was shoved into the arms of warm air and flour that fluttered about everywhere. A smirk roamed across her lips at the white powder that coated the table tops and floor like the snow outside as a sickly sweet aroma brushed her nose. She breathed in deeply, the sugar and spices dancing the only way sweets can as she was settled down into a chair. Kai opened one eye to find the ice creature, adorned in a pink splotched apron, smoothing back her hair as it took the beast from off her shoulders. Its black coal eyes blinked once at her, tilting its head to the side.

"Thanks Pfeff," she chuckled slightly, reaching out to pat the creature's head to have it turn away and waddle to the back counter. Pfeff tossed the beast along the wooden counter, dusting off its blocks of ice hands.

"Pfeff!" Pfeff turned to the man at the opposite side of the large kitchen. "Grab me a bowl, quickly!" Pfeff raced toward the pantry's wide wooden frame, flinging the doors open as it dug around for a bowl.

Kai bit back a sigh and let her head roll to the side. "You shouldn't worry your pretty little head Georg. I'm fine."

Georg huffed, his hand tightening around the handle of his ladle as he whisked away in the pot before him. He clucked his tongue as he leaned over towards the stool beside the fire place to snatch up a stalk of herbs, snapping them between his thick fingers before he stirred again.

"Shouldn't worry?" he grumbled. "_Shouldn't worry?_" He tapped his ladle against his pot, sweat beading along his brow to snake down into his beard. His hand reached out behind him, Pfeff slapping a chipped bowl in his palm. He jerked the ladle out of the black pot, steam dancing off creamy stew. Kai's stomach clenched as the aroma teased her nose, making a guilty grumble erupt from her stomach. Georg turned on his heel and stomped over to Kai, grabbing a spoon off the table beside him before pulling a stool up closer to her. He pointed the silver spoon in hand at her. "Easy for you to say! You don't have to sit here for a month—_or more_—wondering when or _if _you get back, now do you?"

The sharp retort on the tip of Kai's tongue melted once she glanced up at Georg. His eyes, though flaming with bitterness, were darkened by hurt; a pain that turned his bubbly grassy orbs into a darkened hive of fear. Kai winced, her body curling into a ball on the chair, as much as her bulky muscles would allow, and tucked her chin into her chest. She chewed on her tongue for a moment before letting herself slouch forward.

"I'm sorry Georg," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to worry you." She forced a grin onto her lips and tilted her head to the side. "But I am a fast healer you know."

"How could I forget?" Georg rolled his eyes and dipped the spoon into the bowl. Kai's tongue lapped over her lips as she stared at the thick stew swirling along the metal. Her mouth opened wide. As the metal pressed down along her tongue, she cringed at the searing heat mixed with spices and powder; sending her tongue curling back into her mouth. She shot a glare at Georg who gave her an apologetic shrug. "The healing won't be as painful if you eat this."

Kai groaned, wincing as the torn skin on her shoulders crinkled against her pulsing muscles. She gulped down the stew heavily and flinched.

"There's dough," she murmured, teeth grinding against each other as her bones clinked together. "On that spoon."

Georg blinked and glanced down at the spoon's powdery second skin. He gave her a sheepish grin, "Sorry."

Kai grimaced as another spoonful was forced into her mouth and her wounds burned with the rearranging skin. _Damn curse_, she cried. _Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!_ Yet, when her eyes fell onto the floor, her heart dropped. Her gaze lingered on her bottled reflection that glinted on the steel of Georg's leg that pinched his real skin just below his knee. Kai forced herself to look away from him. _At least I can heal. _

Once the bowl of stew was gone, Kai fell back against the chair with a quiet hiss. Her muscles tingled as pain splintered through her veins. Georg gently laid the bowl onto the table and heaved his self up. Kai closed her eyes, cringing at the quiet clink of his steel leg scraping along the floor boards.

"Just wait until the pain is gone." Georg snapped lightly, not even turning back to see her wobbling up from the chair. Kai winced, her muscles already forcing her back onto the wood while Georg's eyes were trained on submerging the bowl in water. The toe of her boot tapped repeatedly on the powdered floorboards as Kai worried the inside of her cheek. The silence that veiled over the kitchen was nothing short of routine; in fact it was considered to be a polite rudeness to not acknowledge each other's existence for the rest of the night.

_But why? _Kai groaned, eyes flickering to the carcass that Pfeff was smoothing out along the table. _Why do you decide tonight to be social? _

"I'm heading in for tonight." Kai tried to rise from her seat again before Georg's voice forced her back down.

"Sit." He swirled his dish towel along the inside of the bowl. "We hardly talk anymore."

Kai's tapping grew louder as she peeled her gloves from her hands, flexing her wrist that was bitten back and forth. The shallow bite marks on her wrist were covered by new skin, filling the bloody wound with bone and light scarring. She glanced over at Pfeff once more as it grabbed a mop from the side of the pantry and began swapping at the flour, and drops of blood, on the floor.

"So," Georg sighed, gaze running along the chips and nicks on the edge of the bowl. "What was it like out there?"

Kai bit back a groan. All of their conversations started out the same and ended the same.

"Same as always."

"Oh."

Silence again. Kai lifted her feet from the floor as Pfeff's mop ran across the floor beneath her. Sliding off to the side, Kai forced her knees to stay stable as she walked over to the lifeless beast in the back.

"You…" Georg stumbled over his words. "You must have had a good hunt."

"Yeah." Kai placed her hands under the fur and heaved. "Something like that."

Georg turned around with a sigh and walked over to her. He placed his hand on the beast's side and gently pushed it back onto the table.

"No, Kai. You need your rest. Pfeff can drain it tonight."

Kai's blood ran cold, quickly grabbing onto the carcass's side and jerking it away from him. "Pfeff's too small."

"Well then I'll drain it."

Kai's eyes narrowed as she shoved him out of the way and gathered the body in her arms. "By the time you do, the damn thing's blood would have reeked through the entire castle."

The corners of Georg's lips turned down into a frown, turning away from her. Before they could stalk off towards their positions a slight gurgled moan vibrated in the air. Georg's brows scrunched together and he turned back towards Kai.

"What was that?"

Kai shrugged only to wince as another gurgle rattled against their eardrums. Georg's eyes trailed down to the body in her arms, mouth gaping slightly as he scratched the curls on his chin.

"You did…" He started.

"No." Kai snapped, rolling her eyes. "I didn't kill the bloody thing. _Of course I did!_"

Georg frowned slightly before the gurgling continued louder. He grabbed onto the carcass, jerking it out of Kai's arms and laid it out on the counter once more. Kai's protests fell upon deaf ears as his fingers trailed down the beast's stomach until they dipped into an opening within its fur. Georg began prying the hole open as the gurgling turned into soft wails. Soon the meat fell apart and Georg's heart stopped beating. Staring up at him were large, watery orbs as sniffles caused the creature's shoulders to quake. He staggered back, knees buckling uncontrollably until he grasped the back of the table behind him. A million questions raced through his head, shoving at each other to be the one to fall from his tongue, yet none one surfaced. Georg turned his gaze from the blood drenched head now sticking out of the beast's side and turned towards the huntress with wide eyes.

Kai shifted from one foot to the next, her teeth chewing on her lower lip restlessly.

"Do you want the long story or the longer one?"


	3. Dusk's Dawn cont 3

**_How _**_is this possible?_

_**Why**__ was it with the beast?_

_**Who **__else could be out there?_

These were all questions Kai had steeled herself for, prepared to rebuttal at a moment's notice. _Yet—_

Kai rolled her eyes at the light cooing from the chair. She glanced over at Georg rocking back and forth in the rocking chair he carved out, cradling the child in one arm while his fingers lightly grazed its stomach. Instead of defending her stand on letting the child live or trying to figure out why it did, she was busy watching Georg practically drool over the boy-pup.

"Who's an adorable little thing?" Georg gushed, eyes twinkling at the coos jingling in his ears. "You are! Yes, you are!"

Kai felt her eye twitch and bit back a groan, leaning against a bookcase in the back of the room. _Like you've never seen a baby before_, she sighed. Pfeff scuffled past her, a wet cloth covering its ice hands as it tottered over to Georg with a cup and dropper. Georg finally lifted his gaze off the child and nodded at Pfeff. He grasped the thin dropper in one hand and set it in the cup as steam drifted along the rim of metal. Pushing his fingers together on the pump, milk rushed into the dropper until it filled it to the top. Georg carefully placed the dropper over the child, sliding in the tip past the tiny lips, and gently squeezed. The child gurgled slightly, but quickly clasped its mouth over the dropper, slurping at the warm milk that glided down its tongue.

"Really?" Kai exclaimed, the blood veins in her neck popping as she pushed herself away from the bookcase. "You're really wasting our milk on _that_?" Georg shot a glare over at her while dipping the dropper back into the cup. Kai groaned, running a hand over her face. She stomped over to the small fire in the middle of the room, growling, "Shouldn't we be concerned over _why _it's even alive up here, let alone _why _that beast didn't devour it the first chance it got!"

Georg returned his gaze down at the child as it hummed quietly around the dropper. "I say the gods looked after him fairly well. And as for the beast, thank heavens it had the soul not to hurt him."

"Whatever," Kai huffed. Her fingers tore the messy bun holding her hair back and let her hair tumble down her neck; her locks catching the blazing fire in its grasp. She twisted the golden locks of her hair into a tight braid. "It must be enchanted or somethin'."

"_Napoleon _is just very blessed."

Kai's muscles stiffened, her fingers frozen in mid braid as she turned toward Georg. The vein popping out the side of her neck throbbed at the mere mention of _"blessed,"_, but her heart skipped several beats at the first word she heard Georg mutter.

"What did you just call it?"

Georg's brows furrowed as he reluctantly took his gaze off the child.

"_Napoleon_."

Kai slapped a hand on her forehead and cursed under her breath. "Georg, you acknowledging its gender was one thing, but now you're crossing the line."

"Y-you mean you're taking him back?" Georg gaped, eyes darting to the small window overhead the bookcase. Ice barred the glass in a thick coat of white while sharp flakes of snow whipped chaotically outside. "Out there?"

"Yeah, and?" Kai shrugged, finally wrapping the end of her hair around the braid as a tie.

Georg placed the dropper into the cup, nodding at Pfeff as it shuffled back into the kitchen. He tightened his hold around the child, cradling his head gently and stared wide eyed at Kai as if she had grown a second head.

"Kai—"

"It's your fault for gettin' attached to it so soon." Kai reached toward Georg until he shifted away, digging his back against the wooden rungs of his chair. "Georg…"

"No." The fire crackled, causing Georg's eyes to rage in jade waves as he glared up at Kai. "You brought him here for a reason, didn't you?" Kai's teeth began to grind. "You wouldn't dare—"

"I would!" she snapped bitterly. "And I would have finished the job if…if…if it didn't…"

Georg's glare softened as she turned away. She rubbed her jaw, her lips thinning out into a frown. He tentatively placed his hand over hers, rubbing the calluses on her knuckles along the side arm of the chair.

"You know," he sighed. "Not even the mountain can kill a mother's heart; no matter how long time may strain."

Kai snorted. "I'm no mother."

"…but you were…once."

Kai rolled her eyes, glancing down at the child resting his head along Georg's arm. Its eyes rolled shut, lost in a dream land where the skies are as blue as the ones in its eyes. She tilted her head to the side and brushed a finger along its cheeks, shivering at the softness of his flesh. A lazy smile wormed across her lips as she sighed, "You're not naming it Napoleon."

Georg mockingly gasped, "But he looks like one!"

"Oh please. At least give it a name that won't bite it in the arse."

Georg chuckled, returning the soft smile as he brushed back the tuft of hair along the child's head. His heart warmed slightly, it had been _ages _since he had been able to hold, let alone look at, a child so young to the world. He glanced at Kai whose smirk held the same warmth he held in his chest. It was…nice; being able to fret over the perfect name for a child without the daunting aura of an impending shadow over their names.

"What about…" Kai hummed, tapping the arm of the chair. "Something manly…Richard?" Georg scoffed. "What? Like _Napoleon _is any better?"

"Oh well." Kai sighed, rolling her head to the side. "I guess the name will come to us eventually."

"Yeah." Georg half smiled, grumbling to his self about _Napoleon _when Kai softly chuckled. She gazed down at the child and gently traced his eyes.

"Just wait till he wakes up." She grinned. "He has the most amazing set of orbs you ever laid eyes on. They remind me of _his_ when he was this small."

Georg's heart froze, almost as if an icy hand had sunk through his chest and squeezed the life out of him. He jerked away from the rocking chair, clinging onto the child as he shot up. His metal leg screeched along the floorboards while Kai jumped after him. She trailed after him as he shot down the hall to his room, flinging open the lid to his chest and rummaged through the thick rolls of furs inside.

"Oh no, no, no." He mumbled. "No, no, no, no, no, no!"

"Georg?" Kai asked. She watched the man cradle the child in one arm carefully while frantically flinging once neat furs across the floor. Kai clapped his shoulder and jerked him around to her. His eyes were wild, darting from side to side as his teeth worried hi bottom lip. "Georg, what is it?"

Georg gulped heavily, running a hand through his dark hair and held the child up in his arms. Kai squared her shoulders, her mind reading off the list of questions she was ready to answer to the best of her ability. **_How? Why? Who? How? Why? Who?_**"Go on." He pressed the child to his chest and whispered hoarsely,

_"__What will the master say?"_

Kai's shoulders drooped, her steel mind deflated at the question that nearly knocked the wind out of her. Her blood ran cold as the image of their master towering over them with a disapproving glower burned into her mind.

"Damn it." She hissed, running a hand through her hair.

Georg nibbled on his bottom lip and leaned down to shift through his chest once more. Furs continued to litter the floor until his fingers bumped into leather. A burst of hope bubbled in his chest as he pressed the child into Kai's arms and reached down to heave the leather clasp upward. A sharp click pierced the air as the wood at the bottom of the chest slid to the side. Georg dug into the dark compartment and hauled a massive, leather bound book out of the dark wood. With a grunt, dust fluttered through the air in thin wisps while Georg gazed down at the surface of the book with a sigh. The dimming candle light danced over the faded onyx leather where a crest of a snowflake rested on the cover whose edges crept out into delicately painted wings in silver.

Kai's jaw dropped, her arms tightening their hold around the child in case she dropped him as well.

"No…please tell me you didn't…" she gaped. Georg shrugged his shoulders sheepishly with a bowed head while Kai swore the blood vein along her neck must have popped by now. "Damn it, Georg! The master is going to have _both _our heads now!"

"Not if he doesn't know." Georg snapped, carefully flipping the book open. Pages crackled lightly under his grasp as he scanned the lines of the first page.

"You're just asking for a death wish now aren't you!" Kai hissed lowly. "We're doomed! I should've known from the moment I saw that bloody beast! We're _doomed_!"

Georg sat on the edge of his bed, turning to the middle of the book and ran his finger down the scrawled print. "At least with this we can offer master an explanation." His eyes widened as he read the section and frowned. He looked up at the child in Kai's arms and back down again. "This doesn't make sense…"

"What?"

Georg slowed his scanning with a sigh, eyes tracing over the section of knights sketched along the page's wrinkling center. Each bared the same crest the cover possessed upon their chests as they raised their swords into the air while one knight rose to the center of the swords. Suddenly, a name clawed at the back of Georg's mind, silently screaming for him to remember. Yet, nothing came to him. "It says here that the only beings capable of surviving anything like this mountain are…are…"

"Spit it out!"

The color in Georg's face grew ashen, his fingers trembling along the edges of the book. He swallowed thickly as his mouth became dry.

"Beings…" he breathed out slowly. "L-like master."

Kai's eyes were close to falling out of her skull as they stared at Georg. The man shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "No…that's not right. It's probably like us."

Kai snapped out of her daze. "U-us?"

"Cursed I mean. You said so yourself. It was close to dying out there if you didn't step in." Georg gestured to the child and flipped through the book again. Kai glanced down at the bundle in her arms as he sighed contently in his slumber.

Georg's furious flipping flooding the bedroom until he placed it on the side of the bed. He rubbed his face in his hands and scratched at the dark curls engulfing his chin.

"Perhaps, the master would be…merciful towards the child." He asked more than stated as he peeked up at Kai through his fingers. Kai plopped onto the bed beside him with a sigh.

"We'll be lucky if he's still merciful towards _us _when he finds out you still have that bloody thing." She tilted her head to the book beside him.

"He won't know. He hasn't known for years." Georg glanced down at the book before he snapped his fingers with a gasp. "Why didn't I think about it sooner! His library should have something!"

Kai jerked up and grabbed his shoulder with her free hand. The child stirred in her arms with a quiet whine.

"You must really hate living don't you?"

"Kai—"

"No. He'll slaughter you right on the spot if you go up there."

"Kai, it will be alright." He pressed a hand on her shoulder. "Besides, we still have another month before…"

A soft rumble cascaded throughout the hall, causing tiny tremors of ice to drift down into the bedroom and dust over the two's heads. Their hearts froze, not daring to let out a single beat until the steady thuds of marching rumbled through the walls. The wood laid out throughout the servants' quarters trembled along with the heartbeats of Kai and Georg. Their gazes were glued to the ceiling over head as thunders rocked the wood above them. Georg's muscles clung to his bones as he raced over to the book on his bed. Slamming it shut, he carefully laid the book back into its secret compartment in the chest and slid it shut; quickly racing across the room to throw in the furs back into the chest.

"How…" Georg spluttered, fumbling with the clasp on his chest before the candles' flames shivered into darkness. Kai gulped and rubbed the back of her head.

"I…might've forgotten to mention that I saw the village master was taking over being demolished on my way up here."

"But he was on his way to the kingdom of Shiell. That's a ten month trip and it takes another month to get—"

"He finished it in three. The villages on the outer rims were just for fun."

Georg's tongue felt heavy in his mouth as he eyed the child in Kai's arms. The walls finally ceased their trembling long enough for one last rumble to fill the castle. The rumble caused the candles in the servants' hall to tremble into darkness, snuffing out any sign of light and warmth while the child let out a small cry.

"Kai," Georg breathed. Kai hugged the child closer to her chest, not bothering to search the room devoured by darkness. A spark was lit, filling the room with a dull, copper flame as Georg held up a lantern between the two. Shadows danced along his jaw, making his pools of jade dull into a bleak oasis. Kai brought her gaze up to him as he murmured, "Perhaps leaving him outside would have been safer."


	4. Dusk's Dawn cont 4

Through the howling moans of the snowstorm ravaging the mountain side, a steady thrum of marching sneaked through the air; like the loyal beat of the heart beneath skin. Streaks of pale moonlight wandered through bodies of black clouds until it was caught in flints of sleek, blue ice; sleek, blue ice that moved with every march.

Giant creatures of white crunched the snow beneath their feet, each bulked to the core with ice that flinched with every hike up the steep slope. Rocking with their firm limbs lay dark blue, almost black, armor, hugging the creatures' broad chests. The moonlight sailed along the glittering plates, lighting up the icy night like stars until the clouds began devouring its fading rays. Just before the storm swept the moonlight away, the streams brushed over the center of the armor; the light weakly caressed an insignia where a single snowflake with wings gracing from its sides was branded into the ice.

"_Bare__1__!_" A shrill call pierced the air, causing the creatures to come to an abrupt halt. They had reached the crown of the mountain shrouded in thick arms of fog. The creatures looked toward the being in the front of the march, beaming in pure white armor and cape as she glared up at the fog. Breathing in cold air, she whispered, "_Vår konge, vi er vårt hjem__2__._"

A silent cry rippled through the wind as a darkened shadow crept over the mountainside, whirling the snow around it aside. Earsplitting flaps erupted through the air until the shadow flew into the fog and disappeared. Suddenly, a roar blew through the fog with a burst of pale blue light, startling the falling snowflakes into a shudder before bowing to the sound. The creatures' eyes were entranced by the aurora of dancing light as a wave of calm washed over the mountain. The wind grew silent; the snowflakes freezing in midair; all the while the fog broke away. Towering against the crown of the mountain was a castle carved out of glittering ice, shadowing the snow in warm plumes of blue, violet, and rose. The lead ice creature shook her head and jerked it forward, causing the others to march in unison into the fortress. The creatures bounded over the stairwell just above the jaws of the cliff. As the last of the ice creatures stepped into the castle, the fog grew thicker and devoured the castle once more; the frozen storm thawing and howling with a stronger force.

The creatures' footsteps echoed against the icy walls of the castle, their beating bringing the fortress into a silent awakening. Their eyes peered up at the shadow hovering over them as it melted into the center of the march until its black wings fluttered back into the hem of a cape as dark as midnight. The creatures came to a smooth halt, breaking away in the middle of the looming foyer to look into the center of their group. Upon the largest ice creatures' shoulders was a silver throne with intricate carvings of the moon resting upon its frame, and upon the throne sat the shadow fanning away the dark flames around it. The oblique fire froze and sank into the throne as its cape rested along its sides. Flints of blue roamed over the creatures as they melted into the steel of a helmet. With a deep sigh, the shadows came to rest over the broad chest of the man now hovering in the throne, caressing the ivory snowflake resting upon his chest.

He raised his boot in the air, about to descend, when blocks of ice rose from the floor to catch him. His cape fluttered at his heels like smoke, snatching the light around him to create a dark azure wave to crawl up his sides. The lead creature shuddered, fighting off the grin trying to parade over her lips as the man descended from his throne.

_Pure perfection. _She thought, the ice staircase melting back into the floor. The creatures stared at the man as he moved down the awaiting path until he stopped in front of their leader. She straightened her shoulders instantly.

"_Vår konge__3_." She bowed her head, her white head gleaming under the aurora caught within the castle walls. Vacant eyes eagerly glanced up at the towering man's masked face, fingers itching to brush away the cold metal upon him. "Shall we place the spoils in the cavern?" The man turned his head towards her and gave a curt nod. Her lips squirmed to keep the grin off her face as she forced herself to continue. "And the prisoners?"

The man glanced over his shoulder towards the ice creatures huddled to the side. Slivers of water dripped down their fangs and plopped onto the cage beneath. The water brushed against a woman's arm, bones protruding from her frostbitten shoulders that glowed a deep red, as she jumped back into the hoard of other people shivering violently. The man's eyes lazily trailed over to the next cage and the cages after that, their cries long dead as they trailed up the mountain. Frost inched over the livings' cheeks and arms, burning their skin with its icy mirth, while they stared at the bodies draped over one another unmoving. He turned back to the lead creature.

"Shall we send the deads' heads as housewarming presents to Queen Ishtail? I've heard she's looking for a new king." The lead creature said. Her ice heart skipped a beat as the man stared at her, feeling the heat of his glare burning through her. "Fine, I'll place them in your gallery hall as usual. What about the living?"

The man turned away from her and stepped into the hall. His gloved hand ghosted along the railing against the wall as his voice—colder than the ice itself—pierced the air.

"Feed my subjects. _Feed._"

His cape snapped at his heels once more as he was swallowed by the shadows looming from the walls. He didn't have to look back to see the splitting grins along the ice creatures' faces as they rushed from their places towards the cages and the staircase leading to the cavern. Gems rocked and spilled along the floor along with the broken cries of the prisoners as the cage doors were torn open. He placed his hand against the wall and a silent rumble shook the walls. A winding staircase of ice pulled away from the wall and as he climbed upwards, the man breathed in deeply until the cacophonous mayhem was dulled to a faint murmur.

His boots echoed as he stepped onto the landing of the next floor. He rolled his shoulders behind him until his hand landed onto a silver handle of a door. He stopped slightly, his ears growing cold for a moment, and silently groaned as he pushed the door open.

"What are you doing here?"

His clipped tone made the woman inside freeze, her hands glued to the bedspread she was smoothing out. The man watched the woman fight back her tremble and straighten her back.

"I was just tidying things up, Master." She said, stumbling over her words as she continued smoothing out the blanket. The man closed the door behind him and moved to the side of the room. He slid behind a hoary changing board, the cape fluttering to the ground instantly as the woman moved to fluff the large pillows at the head of the bed. "There's nothing like a fresh bed after a battle to get you into the right spirit. It's nice compared to having to sleep on nothing, but freezing rocks, logs, and—oh! And when you fall into a riverbed because some bloody snow snake managed to slither around you in the middle of the night; that's the worst." She paused for a moment, nervously glancing up at the silhouette removing articles of clothing. A frown curled at her lip as she shook her head and flung a thick white blanket over the wide bed. "But that's nothing compared to—"

"_Kai._"

Kai's lips fell shut, her blood running cold at the pure venom that filled her name. She swallowed thickly and forced her gaze up at the man who was now leaning against the side of the changing board. Soft blue light crawled over his bare flesh, making his slim frame gleam like the snow. His arms crossed over his chest—metal covered eyes piercing into Kai with every breath she took—as he towered over her. Kai felt her cheeks heat up and sank her teeth into her lower lip. _He used to never want me to see him_. The man turned away from her, tugging open a drawer to whip out a pair of trousers. As they slid over his legs, Kai tore her gaze away towards the floor with snowflakes trapped beneath the ice. _This is the man you raised you idiot! Stop it! _Shame pooled in her stomach until the man ran a hand over the metal helmet and pulled it off his head.

The shame instantly branded itself to her core.

Pale white tinged with gold fluttered down the back of the man's neck as he combed his fingers through his fluffed mane, gracing over the curve of his neck like a halo. Kai finally snapped her gaze away and turned on her heel towards the door. Her feet raced towards the door as she flung her hand onto the handle.

"You must be tired, Master." The ice of the handle nipped at her fingers. "I'll have Georg run you a bathe. Cold as ice just the way you like it!"

"Wait."

Kai's muscles stiffened, silently cursing under her breath.

"Why were you in my quarters?"

"I…" Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth as she searched for an answer. "I was fixing up your bed for you Master. There's nothing wrong in wanting to make you comfortable is there?"

The air suddenly grew colder, whisking Kai's breath away as it loomed in around her. She cautiously let out a breath and turned her head to the side, only to shudder at the piercing glare shot at her. Kai, mouth suddenly dry, gasped slightly for air only to breath in a chill that made her bones shudder. The man stared at her for another moment and turned away, rolling his neck to the side. "Fine."

Kai blinked, coughing as the temperature rose ever so slightly. "P-pardon Master?"

"I said, _'Fine.'_" The man drawled, a dark blue shirt gracing over his shoulders as he slid into the cool fabric. "You're dismissed."

Kai flinched, feeling the blood thaw in her veins as she forced her hand to turn the handle of the door. Her mouth dropped only to close once more as she fled into the hallway and down the staircase, her heartbeat ringing in her ears. _It never gets easier meeting the master face to face_, she thought solemnly. So many words she wanted to say were only to be frozen from the years on the mountain. As the warm child she raised fell into a dark, icy slumber, her protests to speak with him dwindled with it until it became an unspoken command to only see him as "the Master." And she was content in her silence…until now that is.

As Kai swooped through the hallway towards the servants' quarters, every part of her mind screamed at her the same thing. _"You're going to die tonight. You're. Going. To. Die!" _The hairs on her neck stood up at the thought, her hand gripping onto her side to feel the rough cloth of her tunic.

And a book digging into her side mercilessly.

_Forgive me Master,_ she prayed and rushed towards the gleaming white door at the end of the hall. Slamming the door shut behind her, Kai raced into the small kitchen as Georg furiously wiped the countertop. The wood reflected her frazzled eyes like a mirror while the man finished his cleaning. He turned his gaze upward and let out a sigh of relief. He glanced at the door and leaned over.

"Did you find it?" he whispered.

"Barely." Kai breathed. Her hand duck under her thick tunic and pulled out a slim book. Its cover was of ice, highly crafted pieces of ice, binding together pages of feather light snow. Intricate swirls of snowflakes fluttered over its spine, as Kai's fingers fumbled with the lock on its side. "Damn. He did it good this time."

She pulled out a thin needle from her vest and slid it into the lock, wriggling the needle ever so careful into the gears. Georg worried his bottom lip, his eyes flickering to the door every few seconds.

"Hurry Kai." He murmured, his metal leg beginning to scrape at the ground.

Kai huffed, eyeing the dark chasm carefully. "I'm goin' as fast as I can."

Georg fought back the urge to groan, threading his fingers in his hair to jerk at. He began to pace back and forth at the table, dragging his metal leg behind him as he did so. Kai's brows furrowed and finally broke the unnerving silence settled around them.

"Relax Georg."

"I can't!" the scrapping ceased. "If we don't find that spell to keep him hidden—"

"_Scream it_ to the master, why don't you?"

Georg sighed, snatching a cup from the sink and rubbing a rag around it furiously. His eyes scanned the glass for any blemishes, only to remember that he had cleaned it three times, and set it back down.

"He should hungry right now." Georg stomped over to the doorway leading out of the kitchen.

"Pfeff's with 'im right? He should be fine." Kai glanced up from the lock to see Georg's frame melt into the hall. She huffed. "Bloody worry wart." Suddenly, the needle clicked and rattled into a gear as Kai turned the needle carefully. The lock hissed, opening its icy jaws from the side as Kai let out a sigh of relief. Her fingers gently flicked through the pages, reveling in the cool wisps rising from the book as she landed onto a page. An image of a body disappearing was sketched along the white paper. "Georg! Georg I found it!"

She looked up from the book only to find the same dark hall empty. The corners of her lips crinkled into a frown, brining the book to her chest as she called out once more. "Georg!"

Kai arched an eyebrow and ventured down the hallway, goose bumps trailing down her neck. She stopped at the door leading to his room, cautiously placing her hand onto the handle and pushing it open. With a creak the door swung in, a single candle above the heap of sheets in the corner. The golden embers danced in the darkness, as if beckoning Kai deeper into the room.

"Georg?" Kai moved towards the bundle of blankets, twisting her head from side to side. "Pfeff?" She kneeled down next to the furry sheets, and ran her fingers along the curve. Her voice dropped to a low whisper as she pulled the sheets away from the center. "Hey, you okay in there?"

As the last sheet was pulled back, Kai's heart came to an abrupt halt. The bed of blankets was empty, warmth barely lingering from where the child was _supposed _to be. The book clattered to the floor as Kai tore the bundle apart, furs flying across the room with abandon. Sweat trickled down her brow, her fingers quaking violently until the candle blew out. Kai hissed at the icy chill filling the room only to notice…that there _was _an icy chill pooling around her. Her breath hitched at the back of her throat until a light coo brought her out of her thoughts. A spark of hope lit in her chest as she turned around, only to have that hope burn into nothing. Kai's eyes suddenly snapped towards Georg, his arms and mouth glazed over by a thick film of ice against the wall with Pfeff's head rolling mere inches away from its body. But what Kai saw next made her heart lose any hope of seeing tomorrow. Waving his fingers in the air, the child gurgled as he was held above Georg's bed. Yet, the arm cradling the child, Kai thought dreadfully, lead straight to the hostile eyes burning into her as his voice rumbled,

"Looking for something, Kai?"

* * *

Norwegian Words:

_Bare_1: Halt.

_Vår konge, vi er vårt hjem__2: _My king, we are home.

_Vår konge3_: My King.


	5. Dusk's Dawn cont 5

Kai's teeth chattered uncontrollably as her breath hitched on the icy air surrounding her. She fought off the urge to rub her arms for some fraction of warmth, feeling her master's glare pierce through her. Her gaze carefully watched her master lightly tap his fingers along the railing of his throne, ignoring the child's bubbling drool in the arms of one of his ice creatures.

_The throne room is no place for a child, _Kai thought bitterly, watching as melted snow dribbled down the ice creature's teeth, plopping onto the child's head. After the little episode in the servants' quarters, Kai and Georg had been dragged up to the throne room in the center of the castle where their master now sat on his throne, debating on the best way to torture them. _Don't panic. Don't panic. _Kai thought until her master's nails began to slowly drag themselves across the silver arm rest, leaving thin white lines in their wake. _Yet. _

"M-master," she stuttered, the air greedily drinking the warmth from her breath. "I…can explain."

The pale light streaming through the windows waltzed across the dangerous smirk along his lips. "Oh, do tell Kai. _Do tell._"

She gulped the knot in her throat heavily, sparing a glance at the wall where a thick sheet of ice wrapped around Georg's, arms—and neck. Flitting her eyes to the female ice creature, empty eyes twitching at her irritably, from their previous raid, she cleared her throat.

"I-I found him…on my return from my hunt." Her eyes constantly darted to the child with every naïve coo. "He was being carried by…by a…byawolf."

"_What?_" snapped the female ice creature, her shoulders bulking from beneath her armor. Kai shot a quick glare at her and sighed.

"A wolf, your majesty."

She watched his steel, blue eyes, void of any emotion in their icy pools, lazily glance over at the child patting at the ice creature's arms. He turned back to her, a dark chuckle rumbling at the back of his throat.

"So," he said, voice dripping with icy venom. His nails cracked into the arm rests of his throne as he leaned forward. "What made you think bringing a child being protected by _a dire-wolf_ on a mountain where _no one _survives was the best choice, hmm?"

As his eyes burned into her, Kai shrunk into herself.

"…he was defenseless." She squeaked weakly.

Her master sighed, leaning back in his throne. "I see." He peered down at Kai halfheartedly. "And here I thought you finally lost your heart." With a flick of his wrist, the ice around Georg melted, sending the man crumbling to the floor as he gasped for air. Kai quickly kneeled down to him as he staggered to his feet.

"You," her master said, the ice creature holding the child turned his gaze to him. The master glanced at the child waving his arms in the air and smirked. "_Enjoy your dessert_."

A grin broke out along the ice creature's lips as he raised the child in the air. Its large jaw opening wide, he dangled the child just above his lips. The child giggled naively as he stared down into the icy vat within the ice creature's core. Kai jerked her head up, her heart clawing at her chest, as she abruptly stood up.

"No!" she cried, leaping towards the ice creature just before the female creature slammed a fist against her ribs. Kai wheezed, hissing on the icy air as she jerked in the other's grasp.

"Kai," her master tsked. "I thought you would be more _grateful _than this."

Kai shot her gaze towards him, ignoring the shuddering feeling his eyes casted upon her.

"Master, please! He's barely even a child!" she cried.

Georg's lips curled, ready to open, until his master flicked his wrist again. Ice quickly formed around his mouth, sealing his lips shut, as he clawed at the ice at his mouth and legs.

"Marmillion." He said, the female creature casting her gaze towards him. "Take Kai to my subjects. I suppose they'll be awaiting a midnight snack."

"Of course _vår konge__1__,_" she said, digging her hand deeper into Kai's sides as she dragged her out of the throne room.

Kai writhed in the thick snow arms around her, flailing her feet as the child was slowly lowered into the creature's mouth. Her master batted at him, telling him to take small bites instead swallowing whole, rising from his throne. Brushing a strand of hair from his face, he began to depart from the throne room. Kai's heart finally leapt to her tongue as she made one last lunge forward. Digging her nails into Marmillion's arm, she exclaimed,

"_Elias, please!"_

The room grew deathly silent, where even the wind dared not breathe. The ice creature froze, letting the child dangle as Georg stared wide eyed at Kai then darted his gaze toward their master. The master stood still, his back turned away from them. Kai panted heavily, puffs of her breath clouding the room as she eyed her master. Suddenly, an icy hand wrapped around her neck, crushing the air out of her as Marmillion's cold voice traced over her ear.

"_How. Dare. You._" She hissed lowly, pressing her hand harder against Kai's neck. Kai gasped, lungs burning for air as she weakly gripped Marmillion's hand.

"Enough Marmillion."

Marmillion flinched at the bitter voice's command, instantly dropping Kai. Kai fell to the floor, her fingers brushing over the dark red bruise pulsing around her neck as she coughed harshly. The master snapped his fingers at the ice creature, who let the child fall back into his arms with a low plop. The ice on Georg's mouth and legs dripped off onto the floor as the master glided over to Kai. Kneeling down, his fingers wrapped around Kai's chin. Jerking her head to meet his gaze he murmured, "Keep your _little prince _out of my way." Kai shivered. "Only bring _him _to my attention when needed." She flinched as his fingers pressed harder into her chin. "If I deem him expendable at any moment I _will _kill him personally. And Kai," he brought her face closer to his, his breath ghosting over her cheeks as he snarled, "_Don't ever call me that again._"

Kai nodded faintly, and he let her chin drop once more. Gathering his robes in hand, he turned on his heel to depart from the room, Marmillion following right on his heels. He casted his gaze on the child, catching a glimpse of its glittering aqua eyes as he leaned out a hand towards him with soft coos. The master rolled his eyes as the ice creature stomped over and shoved the child in Georg's arms. Georg grasped the child in one arm and raced over to Kai. Georg looked up at the back of his master and called, "Thank you master! I promise he won't be any trouble to you! Y-you might even be as close as brothers."

The master paused, gloved hand hovering over the door handle, as Marmillion scoffed, "Don't hold your breath." With that they melted into the shadows of the hallway of the castle and out of sight once more.

As the door's slam echoed against the ice walls of the room Kai shuddered as Georg helped her to her feet. Cradling the child in one arm, he wrapped the other around Kai.

"Let's get both of you to a fire, hmm?" he said, his metal leg screeching along the floor. "Then you can get some rest. Looks like _we_ _all _have a busy day in the mornin'." Kai mumbled her lips against Georg's shoulder. "What?" Kai heaved in a shaky breath as she groaned again.

"A…An…Anders." She gasped. Georg arched an eyebrow at her.

"Kai?"

Kai nodded her head towards the child, who pressed his face into Georg's wet clad shoulder.

"Anders. His name…is Anders."

"You want to name him after a legend," Georg gawked slightly, "About a mulish lord who was betrayed by his own and ripped apart limb by limb?"

Kai rolled her eyes.

"But…" she said. "He came back to life." She jerked her head at the child. "That was a miracle all in its self. And this load just survived three of 'em."

As the back door creaked into the servants' quarters, Georg chuckled and dragged them down the hall.

"I guess you're right." Georg glanced down at the child who stared up at him with half lidded eyes. "You know, it might be nice having some extra help around here." The child patted his hand against Georg's cheek. "It really is a miracle."

Kai nodded faintly, eyeing the child as he drifted into slumber.

"And I guess you're a little miracle yourself." She whispered.

"Anders."

TBC...

* * *

_Translations:_

_vår konge__1_: My King

**And so the real story begins...**


	6. Part Two: Crack in the Ice

**A/N**

**Currently Genderbent Characters:**

**Elsa - Elias**

**Anna - Anders**

**Kai - Kai**

**Gerda - Georg**

* * *

**Part Two: **

**Crack in the Ice**

**Eight years later…**

Flurries of snow danced along the wind, pirouetting to and fro within their performance for winter's eyes. As the snowfall whirled the thick curtains of night were pulled apart along the horizon, bowing to the faint, ivory grin of light that awoke from the darkness. Murky clouds continued to cover the sun as they passed, yet the thin streaks of light trickled along the mountainside, painting a fresh coat of glitter upon the snow.

While the snow continued its dance for its new audience, a giggle tickled the air. Pressing his cheeks along the window, blue eyes widened at the other side of the mountain. The boy's nose wrinkled as the window snipped at his flesh with an icy chill, yet he pressed his face even closer to the glass.

"Pretty," he breathed, choking on a gasp as an ice creature rose from the snow and trailed upward towards the gate. A grin stretched across the boy's lips, tapping the window with his fingers. The gatekeeper froze, turning its head ever so slightly towards the window. The boy's grin grew larger, blind to the pinch of pain in his cheeks, and waved his hand. The ice creature cocked its' head to the side, blinking at the boy until it raised its' hand to give a tentative wave.

"Anders!"

The boy flinched, grasping onto the window pane as the chair underneath him began to wobble. He glanced over his shoulder, greeted by a heated glare of pale emerald. "Get down from there this instant!" Georg snapped.

Anders's lips puckered into a pout as he slowly dropped from the chair and onto the floor. He bowed his head towards Georg as he mumbled, "Sorry, Uncle Georg."

"How many times have I told you not to climb on things?" Georg huffed, snatching a washcloth from his apron as he stalked over to the boy. Georg rubbed the cloth across Anders's mouth, brushing off the dust bearded around his lips.

"A lot," Anders said, voice muffled under the cloth that bruised his skin.

After the dust was cleared, Anders's mouth glowed a faint red. Georg stifled a chuckle behind his hand as he placed his fists upon his hips.

"Now, get you!" he said, shoving bucket of water and another washcloth into Anders's arms. He twirled the boy around, giving him a light pat on his behind, as he said, "If you got time to daydream, then you got time to finish your chores."

Anders huffed silently, cradling the bucket in his arms as he sauntered down the hall.

"'_If you got time to daydream, get to your chores,' _" Anders mocked in a low voice, glaring at the wooden floorboards. "If you got time, why don't _you_ do it?"

"I heard that young man! And just for that, you can clean the rest of the halls the cleaning crew was going to do!"

Anders flinched, rushing down towards a pillar next to the wall. Dropping the bucket with a thud, Anders dipped the washcloth into the water and sloshed it along the wood.

"And when I come back down here, these halls have better be spotless!" Georg's voice echoed along the walls as Anders's lips caged the sulky grumble boiling at the tip of his tongue.

Digging the shabby cloth in between the floorboards, he scrubbed up and down the hallway. Crawling into deep corners, only to come out coated in dust, Anders dusted and scoured each hallway of the servants' quarters. He dropped the cloth fisted in his tiny hand into the blackened water and began dripping it down pillar after pillar, making each inch of wood glare under the copper flames flickering within the halls.

As Anders's thoughts drifted away from his task, scrubbing away just as casually as he breathed, his eyes rose up to the ice ceiling that trembled every now and then as an ice soldier stomped by upstairs. His lips turned into a frown. Eight years of his life had come and gone, breathing in the same dust that walked across these halls for as long as he had while sneaking glimpses of the mountainside just beyond the window in the reading room.

_Is that all I am? _He thought bitterly, slamming the cloth against the floor. _Dust? _

His aunt and uncle raised him from the miniscule speck he was, running on chores and porridge chunked with scraps of meat when there was enough to go around. The pair filled his mind with as much fragments of the outside world as they could, sharing tales of grief and horror from years of their youth and of today, which…wasn't much from what Anders saw. The sky was always devoured by night, while winter owned the world of the mountain around them only to accompanied by gatekeepers who rise periodically.

_It's "so dangerous,"_ Anders had thought with a groan after hearing another one of their lectures on staying inside the castle.

Yet, there was one thing his Aunt and Uncle stressed to him day and night since he learned how to remember.

_"Never leave these quarters." _They said, voices hushed under the wailing of the wind. _"Never go beyond the door of these halls. Never move if a soldier should see you. And most importantly…_

_If you should ever encounter his majesty of this castle, never speak unless spoken to. _

_Always bow. _

_And never look the master in the eye."_

The look of admiration and fear seared into their gazes, left a bubbling pit of dread within Anders's stomach. His Aunt and Uncle constantly told him that he must work tenfold to honor the master for sparing his life. Yet—

He's never come across such a creature woven in their tales.

Anders sighed, his breath ghosting over a pillar as he wiped along its smooth cut surface. Through the stories his caretakers had told him about the master, Anders had felt a chilling urge to meet him face to face. To finally speak to the man who spared his life so easily. Alas, as Anders stared at his reflection along the glossy surface of the wood, the master who walked and owned these halls was just as much as a phantom as in his tales. Dusting every dark corner of the halls as Anders tried to cleanse it.

Anders let out a low laugh, eyes drinking in the glittering hall he finished cleaning.

"Finally," he breathed, dropping his washcloth into the half empty bucket. He sniffed the air sharply, his stomach clawing at his flesh at the heavenly aroma of cinnamon that teased his nose. "And just in time too." He beamed, eagerly snatching the bucket up from the floor. As he turned on his heel, a dark glimmer caught his eye. He peered into the darkness that led out of the hallway to find a trail of dust crawling out into the shadows. Anders nibbled on his bottom lip, glancing down the hall and back again.

_Uncle Georg forgot to dust? _Anders blinked, scratching the back of his head. _How could he? He runs the cleaning creatures? _Anders glanced down at the bucket in his hand and up at the darkened hallway.

_No, Anders. _Anders thought. _The cleaning creatures will do it! You've done your part. Now it's time for dinner. _Anders nodded firmly, about to turn away until another voice snagged onto his thoughts.

_But, Georg said to dust every hall. _Anders frowned, agreeing with the new voice in his head.

_But it's dark down there! _Anders furiously nodded at that point.

_But, if you clean an extra hall, that means extra pie after dinner. _

Anders snapped out of his thoughts, his mouth dropping at the voice as drool pooled along his lips. His eyes hardened instantly.

Snatching his washcloth from his bucket, Anders took a large and huffed, "For the pie!" And so with a puffed out chest, armed with a raggedy washcloth in hand, he charged into the dark hall.

Not knowing it would be the greatest and the worst decision he would ever make.

* * *

⃰

Georg jerked the oven door open, grasping onto a tray with a cloth as waves of heat washed over the tiny beads of sweat swimming along his brow. Bitter scents of Beo-boar meat swirled throughout the kitchen as Georg moved over to the counter. Pfeff, ice firmly pressed along his neck, waddled over to the oven to close it while other ice creatures flittered throughout the kitchen, preparing utensils and cloths along silver trays.

Georg snatched a knife from the drawer, handle crested of pale ice, and dug it into the slab. Carving large portions out of the meat, Georg placed the sections more gracefully produced onto a large plate resting upon the counter.

"Pfeff." Georg called, eyeing the scorched lines crisscrossing over the Beo-boar slab. He stretched out his hand as Pfeff dropped a vial into his hands. With a quick pop, Georg drizzled drops of crushed herbs along the meat, blinding the bitter scent with one lingering on savory. The ice creatures snatched the plate away from Georg and placed it on one of the trays. Georg leaned back, metal leg scratching along the floor as he sighed. Clatters of ice and metal erupted through the kitchen as the creatures carried out the trays into the dining hall of the castle.

Georg watched as the ice bodies paraded out of the large kitchen and chuckled lowly. He snapped his fingers, a flurry of spare ice creatures whirling around the rest of the meat to put away while he brushed off a couple of slabs into a cloth. Tying the ends into a knot, he nodded a Pfeff and began to head to the back door. Pfeff silently waddled behind him as they descended down the stairs from the main kitchen.

Georg rubbed the cloth in his hands, weighing heavily in his hands along with the rest tied around his belt. Once he finally reached the bottom of the back staircase, Pfeff pushed the door open for him to drag his self in. He sighed, breathing in the oaky scent around him as he sauntered towards the tiny kitchen in the servants' quarters.

"Anders!" he called, laying out the cloth along his belt along the table. He untied the stained pieces, unleashing aromas that began warring for dominance within the kitchen air. Cinnamon, salts, and herbs swirled into a ball of heat that made even Georg begin to drool.

A loud slam echoed through the quarters as heavy stomps made their way down to the kitchen. Georg glanced up at Kai, furs glazed in films of snow and melting ice as she dropped a Beo-wolf carcass in the back of the room along with her pouch. Georg's eye twitched slightly as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Really, Kai?" he breathed, glaring up at the woman as she dusted off the snow.

"What?" she gawked, snatching a chair from the table and plopped herself down. "The bloody thing was heavy."

Georg's lips twisted at the strong stench of iron rolling off the woman and slapped a hand over his nose.

"You can at least get changed, you know?" he mumbled through his hand.

"What for?" Kai snapped.

Georg rolled his eyes, moving to the cupboard to grab three plates. As he set them around the table, he shot another glare at her.

"Anders has a sensitive nose." Georg snipped. "And stomach."

"Fine." Kai huffed, shifting around in the chair to shrug her large coat from her shoulders. She rose to throw her coat along a hanger in the back room, slamming the door shut behind her as she stalked back over to the table. "But if you ask me, the boy needs to start getting some _man_ on his bones."

"He's only eight."

"So? We were all eight once!" She stretched her arms out, back popping with the stretch as she rolled her shoulders. Her eyes glittered at the food teasing her nostrils, moving her hand to grab one of the plates. "If I had it my way he'd be a natural born hunter right now."

A startled yelp hissed through her teeth. She glared up at Georg who waved a metal spoon at her as he snapped, "The day you bring him out of these quarters will be the day my heart gives out."

Kai rubbed her hand tenderly, resting her cheek against her palm as she mumbled, "Whatever you say Mother Hen."

Georg huffed, sitting his self down as well and placed the portions of food in the napkins onto the plates. Kai groaned, eyes tracing over the rugged tears of meat and sweets.

"Why do those _beasts _have to eat so much? They don't even feel!" she whined. Georg felt a faint curve outline the corner of his lips at the thought as he leaned back in his chair.

"It's for sport, but if only heate," He said quietly, eyeing the brown edged crust of one of his pies until Kai let out an exasperated sigh. "Where's the twerp anyway?"

Georg flinched, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced over Kai's shoulder at the kitchen door.

"I…don't know. He's usually running in here before I even walk in."

"He'll show up eventually." Kai rolled her neck to the side, cracking the bones and leaned toward her plate. "In the meantime, however…"

Another yelp escaped her lips as Georg slapped his spoon along her knuckles once more.

* * *

⃰

Anders blew at the cobwebs dusting over his cheeks as he dragged his bucket through the hall. He rubbed his arms, shivering as he watched his breath be captured by the icy air. He groaned as the water dribbling down the pillar he was scrubbing slowly freeze into tiny droplets along the clear glass. His teeth chattered as he stretched his arms out into the darkness.

_I so better get an extra piece of pie for this, _he thought, silently hissing at the hardened bristles of the cloth. Dragging his self through the hall, Anders finally came to a halt as he reached a large door. Etched onto its surface were shades of dark blue and white splintered through the thick glass. Anders's mouth dropped, a silent "o" possessing his lips as he shook his self out of his daze. _For the pie! _

His fingers nimbly took the knob in hand, flinching at the arctic bite that stung his hand, and pushed against the door. The door silently swung in, causing the boy to stumble forward. He squinted his eyes through the darkness veiling over the room and carefully stepped further in, his grip on the cloth tightening as the air grew colder around him. Shadows of bookcases crept across the floor, leaving a hard knot bobbing in Anders's throat. He staggered back, the walls suddenly seeming to stomp towards him with each flicker of a shadow he caught with his eye. As he stepped back again, he felt something hard hinder him from tripping.

Anders's eyes widened slightly, forcing his eyes to draw upward into pools of shadows of their own invention. Flints of icy, blue glared down at Anders's trembling ones as the cloth in Anders's hand plopped onto the floor being consumed by ice. The boy took in a shaky breath, raising a hand in the air, breathing,

"Hi."


	7. Crack in the Ice cont 2

Anders's teeth chattered against themselves, fighting off the brisk air straining to drink the warmth from his breath, and the urge to completely sever his tongue from his mouth. In the span of three seconds, he had already broken all three rules.

Georg and Kai's words burned in the back of his mind, lashing his every shiver with a bitter, "We told you so" chant echoing its' laughter. And even if this wasn't who he thought he was—the churning pit in stomach told him he was doomed anyway.

_If you should ever encounter his majesty of this castle, never speak unless spoken to. _

_Always bow. _

_And never look the master in the eye._

_So much for pie, _Anders's thought glumly. He gazed up at the man towering over him with those icy eyes burying themselves into his own, like the snow outside itself. _Oh, if only this were snow_. Out of the corner of his eye, Anders noticed a faint movement of lips; pale lips that seemed to glow under the ribbons of light that slithered into the study. Anders slowly placed the distant mouth to a face that soon drunk in the icy eyes into its' skull with ease. And ever, so carefully, Anders's ears—deaf from the blood roaring through them—pieced together the voice with words. Words that flowed like velvet as the voice said,

"Are you going to stand there all day?"

Anders flinched away from the figure and stumbled forward, turning on his heel to face him once more. Boredom laced the corners of the man's lips with a thin frown as his arms crossed over his chest. Heat crawled across Anders's cheeks and he threw his self into a low bow.

"I-I," he stumbled over his words, his flush searing his cheeks against the cold. He spared a glance up at the man. "I'm sorr—"

The man raised a hand; freezing the words from pouring from the boy's mouth. His pale, blue eyes roamed over Anders's quaking frame, seeming to chip away his skin with ease. He watched the boy chew on his tongue, beads of sweat freezing to his brow before they could even surface, as he looked up at him with his flittering gaze.

"Do you know who I am?" The man leaned back against his desk.

Anders's mouth dropped, then closed, gaping like a fish for a moment before his ears turned red—whether it was from the man's presence or the cold he didn't know. "…no." He grumbled.

A low chuckle rumbled in the back of the man's throat, bringing Anders's gaze up to him immediately. The man's head tilted to the side as he stepped toward the boy. Anders froze, fighting the urge to cover his self with his arms as the man circled around him slowly. The man rubbed a finger at his chin and drunk in every shiver the boy made once his eyes trailed down him, almost as if he were stripping him of not his clothes—but his babe flesh. A chill ran down Anders's spine at the thought and felt his heart claw at his chest. Begging to race out of the study while his body was left to freeze under this man's—_stranger's_—deadly gaze that burned him.

_If only I could_, Anders wept inwardly.

"So," The man mused, jerking Anders's out of his thoughts. Anders's blood ran cold as a finger, colder than ice, brought his chin up. The man let a bitter chuckle rouse in his mouth before letting a dark flash cross his features. His fingers crept along Anders's cheeks, leaving trails of frost along the soft skin before his nails traced over them teasingly. "You're the _little prince _Kai and Georg have been rearing, hmm?"

Anders's heart sank at how the man spat the words at him. As Anders's hands balled up at his sides, the man rolled his eyes as he let go, making Anders tumble forward. He strolled over behind his desk and fell back into the air as a chair crafted of ice formed instantly to catch him. He crossed a leg over the other and slid up to his desk. Anders stared at him until he snapped his fingers, the shadows of the study sliding back to their domains behind bookcases as a pale glow emitted from the ice. The walls glowed a faint bluish white, dancing over the floor's snowflake center that mirrored the domed ceiling overhead. Anders's jaw dropped as awe fell from his lips.

He bit back a gasp as he eyed the rows of books, bounded by ice and leather, circle around the study until one slid off the shelf. Miniscule flurries of snowflakes whirled around the thick book, carrying it through the air as it landed with a soft thud on the man's desk. Anders brought his gaze up at the man and felt his heart shudder.

Golden, ivory locks were brushed back from the man's face, a lone strand of a bang brushing just above his eye as the light seemed to caress his skin—trapping it underneath even if not emitting. His thin fingers whisked across the pages of the book, eyes roaming across its words as he snatched a quill at his side to scribble mercilessly across thick parchment papers stacked neatly around his wide desk. Anders blinked while another flush burned its way across his cheeks. How could this be the same creature towering over him just seconds ago? He was so…so…

"Pretty," Anders whispered in a hushed voice, careful not to flinch at his thoughts being voice aloud. Yet, the man didn't look up, eyes lost in the papers around him while he rolled his parchment up into a scroll. Pressing his index finger onto its' center, a crest of ice in the shape of a single snowflake circled around the paper. He moved it to the side of the ice desk as he snatched another blank parchment and began to scribble once more. Anders stared on in silence, eagerly drinking in the way the man's fingers seemed to dance along the paper as he wrote.

"Aren't you going to get to it?" the man asked, not glancing up from the papers.

Anders's jumped, snapping his eyes away. "Wha-what?"

"Your dusting," the man said, pointing to the discarded washcloth and bucket on the floor with the feather of the quill. "Georg sent you up here for something, correct."

Anders blinked and grabbed the washcloth.

"R-right!" Anders said, shuffling to the corner of the study where a small chest laid. His fingers brushed over the cloth, its' bristles now soft to the touch as he dipped it into the water. He gingerly began wiping over the metal chest, forcing his eyes on the intricate carved patterns as they wandered over the desk where the man worked.

_Focus! The pie! The pie! Think of the pie! _He scolded his self, moving onto the bottom of one of the bookshelves.

The war between dusting and staring waged on painfully until Anders's finished dusting the last of the bottom bookshelves. He glanced up at the top of the one in the center of the study where a silver snowflake twirled in midair idly as if gazing at the world below it when it caught something interesting in its' swirls. Anders's brows furrowed, scrunching his sleeves up to his elbows as he crouched down low. He let out a grunt as he leaped upward, falling back too short while he waved his arms in the air with the washcloth.

"Let it go, boy." Anders looked back over to the man, eyes still glued to his work. "You've done enough. You're dismissed."

Anders blinked, mouth opening slightly as he pointed to the top shelf.

"But—"

"You're. _Dismissed_." The words slapped him harshly as ice practically dripped from them.

Anders gave a faint nod, cradling his bucket beneath his arm and moving to the door. He casted a glance back at the man over his shoulder.

"Um, sir," he murmured hesitantly, the scribbling of the quill filling the pause in between. "Wha-what do want me to call you?"

The scribbling came to an abrupt halt as the man glanced up from his work. His lips thinned once more, eyeing the boy up and down from his white hair to the wet patches of wool clinging to his skin. He stared at him for another moment before looking down at his papers again.

"Just 'Sir' is fine, boy." He said.

Anders nodded, quickly slipping out into the hallway as his feet carried him through the darkness. As soon as his feet skidded along wooden floorboards, his feet sang out at the dull warmth filling his senses. He slid past the dock where the cleaning supplies laid, dropping his bucket and washcloth into a cubby before racing towards the heart of the servants' quarters.

"I'm back!" he called out, stumbling through the kitchen door.

He instantly wished he didn't.

Two pairs of fiery glares, one softer than the other, pinned him to the floor as Kai stormed across the kitchen towards him. Her hand came down upon his head, shaking it forcefully.

"Where have you been?" she snarled, fighting against the full fire roaring in her belly. "Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?"

Anders winced at the calloused bruises digging into his scalp. "B-but," An arm wrapped around his neck, squeezing the breath out of him.

"I swear I'm gonna—" Kai started, yelping at the lash against the back of her head.

Georg stood, patting his spoon as he glared down at the two of them.

"Kai, let go of Anders." Kai spun around, tongue freezing to the roof of her mouth at the bubbling heat rising in Georg's eyes. "Now."

Kai sighed, dropping Anders from her hold as ruffled his hair. "Don't do that again kid."

Anders nodded, barely catching the hurt swimming beneath her silver eyes as she stomped back over to the table. Georg gave him a sympathetic look as beckoned him over to the table as well.

"Well now that we're finally settle," Georg sighed, but before he could finish Kai stabbed her fork down into a piece of Beo-Boar meat and tossed it in her mouth, moaning at the savory seasoning that scratched at her tongue. Anders bit back a giggle while Georg shook his head.

After the three finished delving into their meal, a pout rounded itself upon Anders's lips as Georg pulled a thick blanket over him.

"Oh, don't give me that look." Georg chastised, smoothing over the sheets with his large hands.

"But no dessert until the fourth moon?" Anders whined. "I'll be all old and brittle by then!"

"It's only four months."

"That's enough to die from lack of sugar!"

Georg rolled his eyes and rose from the bed. He kneeled down next to Anders and tilted his head to the side. The candle's flame casted shadows over Georg's face, making the thin wrinkles on his face grow deeper along his cheeks.

"Now can you tell me what really took you so long in the halls?" Anders flinched, rolling off to the side of the bed before Georg added softly, "Anders."

He groaned, rolling over to Georg once more as he huffed. His arms crossed over his chest under the blankets.

"I…was cleaning extra halls down the hallway." He murmured quietly.

Georg's eyes widened before he clamped a hand down on Anders's shoulder.

"Anders, what were you thinking?!" His voice strangled between panic and anger. "Do you have any _idea _who or what you could've come across?" Anders bowed his head, his pout whimpering into a frown as he shook his head. Georg sighed. "Anders, you understand that Kai and I are hard on you because we don't want anything to happen, right?"

Anders shrugged his shoulders.

"Auntie Kai wants to take me outside," he mumbled.

"She's joking." Georg tilted Anders's chin up. "Besides, she'll have to go through me before getting a chance to take you out there."

A faint smile curled along Anders lips before he brought a hand at Georg's sleeve.

"Uncle Georg?"

"Hmm?"

Anders sucked in a harsh breath as he asked, "What's the master of the castle like?"

He could feel the muscle underneath Georg tense as he breathed out slowly.

"He's…a very, very cold man." He began. "Anytime he passes through kingdoms, all kings give up their riches, their wives—even children—to him. In fact," He leaned down close, breath ghosting the shell of Anders's ear. "Even the Devil hides when he's near."

"Why?" Anders shivered. "Is the Devil too scared to face fear?"

"No—too scared to face his own spawn."

Anders's brows morphed into a thick line. Millions of questions burned at the tip of his tongue, yet were snuffed out by the fact that Georg would never answer any of them.

Except one.

Hopefully.

"Uncle Georg?" Georg tilted his head to the side, eyeing the boy curiously. Anders gulped down the knot in his throat and asked, "What's his name?"

Georg jumped from the bed as if _it _were the master. He shook his head vigorously, a frown etching deep upon his mouth.

"Anders,_ no one _is allowed to speak his name!" he said in a rush. "Not even his right hand man."

"I won't say it, I just want to know. _Please!_" Anders pleaded.

Georg froze, Anders bottom lip sticking out like a wounded puppy. He gnawed the inside of his cheek and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. Casting a quick glance at the door, Georg kneeled down to the bed and leaned in close.

"You _cannot _and _will not _speak of this to anyone. Understand?" Georg said, voice thick in a low rumble as Anders nodded his head. The boy held his breath and scooted closer to the edge of the mattress. Georg let his self cast one more glance at the door and dove next to the boy's ear. His hot breath washed over the shell of Anders's ear as a single word brushed from his lips and sunk into Anders's mind.

"What are you two doing?" Kai's voice called.

The two flinched, glancing over at Kai's frame leaning against the door frame.

"Just trading secrets Kai." Georg chuckled uneasily.

Kai rolled her eyes as he rose from the floor.

"Course you are, now could you be so kind and gather the meat." Kai said, sliding back into the hall. "The blood was drained hours ago."

"I will! I will!" Georg leaned back on his heels as her frame disappeared and let out a deep sigh. He looked down at Anders, running his fingers through his ashen hair. "Now remember what I said, Anders. No one is to hear about this." Anders blinked up at him with a wide grin.

"Hear about _what_?" he said cheekily.

Georg chuckled, leaning down to let his lips brush against Anders's forehead. Anders giggled at the rough, cracked flesh tickling his skin as Georg rose to head to the door. He leaned over and gently blew out the candle next to the door.

"Good night Anders."

Anders grunted back and squirmed under the thick sheets. His eyes drunk in the darkness around the room as he stared up at the ice ceiling overhead shaking under the dull stomps of ice soldiers. He let his head sink back into his pillow and let out a breath, his ears buzzing from the name bouncing off the walls of his mind. Each time the name left his invisible lips, it sounded even finer as if he were chipping away ice to discover the sculpture beneath.

_Elias. _

_Elias. _

_Elias. _

_Elias. _

His tongue curled around the name, swirling it around his mouth before swallowing it down. _I wish I could say it aloud_. The way the light and ice danced around the man sent a shiver running down the boy's spine as the memory rose from the back of his mind. Suddenly, his stomach sank, feeling shreds of guilt begin to pierce him.

_I should have told Uncle and Auntie where I was, _he thought glumly, eyelids growing heavy at the darkness tucking him in. _I should tell them tomorrow. _

Anders's eyes shot open as he bolted up from his bed, almost as if the very thought seared his backside. He ran his fingers through his hair and gasped. He would never be able to leave the quarters again if he told them. He would be lucky to even leave his room! Yet, the same passive face lined with a foreign power drifted through Anders mind and he groaned. He plopped back onto his pillow. His lips pursed into a pout while his fingers tangled themselves together. He tossed this way and that as he tried to let sleep whisk him away, yet every time he closed his eyes the man would appear at the back of his eyelids. Anders groaned louder tugging at his hair while staring up at the ceiling.

He watched as miniscule colors of light zipped over the ceiling that rattled again; seeming to dance and fray before following another being that quelled the cacophony above. His lips thinned out into a straight line, glaring up at the ceiling with a renewed vehemence pooling beneath his eyes. His tongue finally flattened, teeth finally done batting the truth from its' system as Anders forced his eyes to close. Master of the castle, rules, phantom, his majesty, sir, or not.

He was going to see that man again.

Even if he was doomed.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Thank you for reading! :)**


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